The Guardian
by Hawklan
Summary: All Alterrans on Earth have ascended untold years before, only he decided to stay back to watch over the planet and to guard the heirloom of his people.
1. Chapter 1

The Guardian

Disclaimer: BTVS belongs to Joss Whedon, Highlander to Panzer/Davis and Stargate to Brad Wright and whoever else helped with it. I just play with those 'verses, because I like them and don't earn a knut from it.

Summary: All Alterrans on Earth have ascended untold years before, only he decided to stay back to watch over the planet and to guard the heirloom of his people.

Authors: Hawklan and Razial, who added a bit more depth to the story.  
Beta: Inachis, thank you for your work.

Note: I started this fic after reading the challenge here  
.org/Challenge-1090/Xander+is+an+Immortal+  
it was kinda vague, but I liked the Idea.

Chapter 1

Somewhere in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean

He slowly opened his eyes and took his first deep breath in he doesn't know how many years. It seems like his AI thought it was time for him to wake up again and so gave his trusted robotic companion Ricco the order to awaken him.

As always after one of these hibernation sleeps, the wake up proceedings took a while. Ricco ordered the medical bed on which he had slept to start massaging his muscles and all other things needed, so that he could start to get up again. After he drank a bit of the protein drink Ricco gave him, he nodded to his companion of untold eons and said, "Hello Ricco, good to see that you're still around. Why was I awakened this time?"

"Welcome back Master Alexander. As always, the AI has deemed me to be worthy to be informed about those facts. She will inform you as soon as you are up on you feet again. Do you prefer the quick method or shall we continue with the standard procedures?"

"Did Thora say anything about an emergency?" Alexander asked his friend.

"No, Master, she did not, "Ricco replied.

"Good, then continue with the standard procedures. I just hate dying so we'll take the longer way around and in the mean time you can inform me about what has happened since the last time I was awake," Alexander said.

"As you wish Master, I prefer this way as well. Less mess to clean up," Ricco replied and then continued with the proceedings to bring his Master back on his feet. For the time being he told him about the important and not so important things that had taken place during the 100 years his Master had been asleep this time.

A few hours later

Finally his body had recovered enough for him to get up again. It was still a bit painful and sometimes he really thought he should just stay awake for good, but some times he'd just get bored with life and so he'd return to his Deep Sea base here in the Atlantic Ocean and go into a deep sleep until he was needed again. Now it's seems his AI on this base has found a reason for him to be awake.

Slowly he went, with the help of Ricco, into the command center and sat down on one of those nice and comfortable chairs. As he sat down he really was thankful for the healing powers his immortality gave him. Without those he probably would have had to spend days or weeks in the medical bay to get back on his feet, instead of the few hours he had needed now.

He relaxed a few moments and looked at his robotic friend, who had entered the room again. 'Damn, looks like I'm still half asleep, I didn't even noticed that he'd left the room,' he thought to himself.

"Master, please drink this. It will help you and I think you will like it," Ricco said and put down a small tablet with a cup full of a dark drink and a small pot.

The aromatic smell of the drink hit Alexander's nose. He took a deep breath and looked at Ricco in surprise. "Coffee, Ricco? You are unbelievable," he said and slowly enjoyed the cup of coffee.

"You are welcome, Master. After you complained the last time you woke up about not having a decent cup of coffee around, I sent out a few drones to bring some seeds of this plant and since then I have been growing them in our Biodeck," Ricco explained.

"Thank you," Alexander simply replied and refilled his cup out of the pot.

After he'd enjoyed that cup as well, he put the cup down and looked up. "Thora, I hope you are well? Why have you brought me out of my beauty sleep this time?"

At his words a beautiful woman appeared out of nowhere just a few steps in front of him. "Ahh Master Alexander, yes I feel good, thank you so much for asking," she said with an ironic smile and then continued. "If it would have been just for your beauty sleep Master, I would have let you sleep for a few more centuries."

"Ouch I'm hurt Thora," Alexander replied with a grin.

Thora shrugged her shoulders and then said, "Actually, there are two things I think were important enough to wake you up for. Firstly, the Astria Porta, which has been buried in the land which is now called Egypt, has been found a few decades ago, and secondly, Angelus has been seen again. He was sighted in a city called Los Angeles in America and is now on his way to a nearby town, Sunnydale, where our sensors have registered a dimensional instability. I also got a notice from one of our agents in the Watchers Council that one of their filed watchers was stationed in that town to replace the dead watcher of the current slayer, who is currently moving to Sunnydale."

"The Astria Porta has been found decades ago? Why didn't you wake me up then?" Alexander asked in a disbelieving tone and glared at the AI.

"There was no need Alexander. They found the Porta, but not the control tablet and so there was no chance that they would activate it," Thora replied.

"You still should have, but it's too late for that now. So, where is it now?" he wanted to now.

Thora sighed a bit and then sat down on one of the free chairs, before she answered his question. "Currently it is in the possession of the U.S. Air Force and it is located in one of their secret bases in a town called Colorado Springs. Right now they are trying to decipher it, but in my estimations their chances are pretty low to actually succeed in doing so. So my advice would be to deal with Angelus first."

"Air Force? So they finally figured out how to fly, did they? Are you sure about their chances, Thora?" Alexander asked.

Thora just nodded.

"Ok, so Angelus that old bastard. It really is time to finish that abomination," Alexander growled.

Ricco laid his hands on Alexander's shoulder in support and said, "Ahh Master it is now over 300 years since Angelus killed her."

With a tear rolling down his face Alexander replied, "Yes, I know Ricco, but I still see her beautiful face every time I close my eyes. I just can't forget her."

Ricco and Thora just looked at their Master and both where at a loss on how to react to this situation.

"Tahila was my companion for over 20 years and..."

At this point Alexander's voice broke and he was silent for a long while.

Ricco and Thora looked at each other and both shrugged their shoulders. They both could feel some emotions, but this went far beyond anything either of them had ever experienced. They just hoped that their Master would find someone who at least could lessen that pain.

"So Thora, have you already prepared something for me to integrate me in this town?" Alexander finally asked.

Relived that her Master seemed to have pulled himself together again, she nodded.

"Yes, Master. I just copied several files on your datapad for you to check. Three are of some younglings whose identities you could assume. Read them and then tell me which you choose so that I can prepare everything. I also added a resume about the watcher, who is called Rupert Giles. Sadly I only could find the name of the Slayer, Buffy Summers, in the Watchers databanks so far. No picture or anything else on the current Slayer. Looks like she wasn't council raised and her first watcher died before he could send much information about her to the council. I also added a file about the history of the town and I think you will like the part about its Mayor."

"Thank you Thora, I will study them in my quarters and then let you know what I have decided," Alexander said as he stood up and then slowly left the command center.

Ricco looked after him, a bit concerned.

"He will be ok Ricco. He always is, you know that," Thora said to the robot.

"Yes Thora, I hope so. He just took it really hard this time and I won't pity Angelus if our Master catches him," Ricco replied.

To this Thora just nodded.

Alexander wandered around the base for quite a long while without really noticing anything. After a while he finally cleared his head a bit and noted that he was standing in the middle of the Biodeck. He looked around for a bit to see what Ricco has done while he was asleep. Amused, he noted a small patch of trees and walked over to it. He shrugged and thought that he could read those reports here just as well as in his quarters and so he sat down and opened the first of the files to study them.

An hour later he could not help, but look away from the file and remember what Angelus had taken from him all those years ago. Oh how he hated that vampire above all others. Tahila, his beloved companion, had been a great source of happiness and strength for him and now she was gone, taken from him by a cruel and twisted vampire who he would make pay for that. He recalled finding her body completely drained of life and clearly showing signs of abuse, something he always tried to block out of his mind. His anger mounted as he also remembered just what else Angelus had done.

Tahila had not just been killed, but he had turned her as well and as he had held her body to him and cried for his loss, she had come back and instantly tried to rip his throat out. He had been lucky to push her away and get out of her way. Facing her down, he had felt a momentary loss of will as he stared at her transformed face. After a short moment of shock he had overcome it and concentrated on what he knew he had to do now. He fought her and in the end was forced to stake her. This had killed him inside and even now, so many years later, it made him want to rip his own heart out so that he wouldn't feel the pain anymore. He had sworn then that when he caught up with Angelus, he would ensure that the bastard would suffer for what he had done to her.

He leaned backwards against the tree and said a prayer for his lost love and wondered if someday he might meet someone new. So far he had kept out of that kind of thing, but maybe it was time to try again. Maybe the pain would lessen if he could find someone to fall in love with. That would be helpful as the pain, rage and loss he carried was not healthy. He knew this, but until he avenged that loss, he could not let it go. It was not only not healthy, but also dangerous to him. It could make him loose control and by doing so, he could be injured or worse, killed. Granted, unless his head was taken off he would come back, but still it was a bad risk to take. He was sure there were still many immortals around, which reminded him he had to ask Thora what she knew about his son.

Being back in the game would be hard, as he thought the game a big waste of life and potential. He had met some truly amazing people through the long years, only to see them fall to someone's blade. Sometimes fate was a cruel mistress and the being that had created the immortals was the most vindictive of the old gods. His people had long tried to stem what the old gods had let loose on earth, including forcing the demons into an interconnected dimension, which people now called hell. They had been aided by their allies at the time: the Asgard, the Nox and the Furlings. Sadly, some of the lesser demons had escaped and ensured that a secret war continued to this very day.

The dimensional insatiability Thora had detected was in fact a hole between the two dimensions, which had earned the title Hellmouth. If an active one was ever opened, the demons would come back into this world and the current human race would become extinct overnight. This was one of the things he had stayed behind for, when his people had ascended. He was determined to ensure they remained gone. They had no place in this world. Sadly, the lesser demons and vampires who were still here caused enough of a problem by themselves, but they were manageable and humans could deal with them.

The so called Powers had created champions called Slayers to help deal with the problem and placed them in the guardianship of a group of men called Watchers. Sometimes they were great people and sometimes...not so much.

He shook his head and forced the memories away and went back to reading the data. He had remembered enough for now, he decided.

A few hours later he was interrupted in his studies by Ricco. "Master, I have brought you something to eat and drink. After all, you have read for quite a while now."

Alexander looked up in surprise and at the smell of the food his stomach made it clear that in its opinion, it was time for a break. "Ahh thank you Ricco, it sounds like I'm starving," Alexander replied with a silly smile on his face.

He looked at the food for a second and then started to dig in. After a few minutes he was finished and looked at Ricco, who waited beside him. "That was delicious. Thank you Ricco."

"At your service, my Master. How far are you with those files?" the robot asked.

"Nearly finished them, I just have a bit more to read about the history of the town and the Mayor, but I can finish that later. Let's go see Thora and tell her my decision," Alexander said as he stood up. "By the way Ricco, I like what you have done to the Biodeck. It really is peaceful here."

"Thank you Master, I really enjoy working here," Ricco replied to the praise from his Master.

"I can see that Ricco," Alexander said.

Then they walked through the Biodeck and both enjoyed the sights of it while passing through. A few minutes later they both entered the command center again and Alexander quickly sat down in one of the chairs.

"Thora? I think I have decided which of the three people I will replace. I really didn't like what I read about Andrew and Jonathan, but I liked the file about the third boy. Also the fact that we share the same first name will make things easier," Alexander informed his AI.

After Alexander finished, Thora appeared again in the middle of the room and nodded in his direction. "Good Master, I will prepare everything and after you've learned all you need in the hypno-teacher, you can take a shuttle to Sunnydale. I already rented a warehouse there and our drones are currently preparing it for your arrival."

"Good Thora, thank you for all the help. Without you and Ricco this all would be a lot harder to do. Would you be so kind to project a full holographic image of Alexander Harris for me?" Alexander asked his AI.

"Of course Master," she replied and a second later the 3D image of the teenager stood right beside her.

Alexander nodded thankfully and walked several times around the image and studied it. After nearly an hour he stood still in front of it and started to concentrate. After a few moments small blue lightning bolts were seen on his skin. His features and his whole body started to change and after the lights had disappeared he looked exactly like Alexander Harris.

"Perfect Master," Ricco said after he looked over his Master and then added. "I prepared the teaching device and after you finish the course, your shuttle will be ready as well."

"Thank you again, to both of you," Alexander said and then went to the room in which the teaching device stood. He lay down on the comfortable looking bed and pulled the small helmet over his head and as soon as he closed his eyes, the teachings started.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Thanks to Inachis for beta reading.

Chapter 2

He opened his eye a few hours later, just a moments after Ricco carefully removed the helmet from his head. He blinked for a moment and was confused by his surroundings, but he remembered that he had always felt like this after such a quick learning session. He closed his eyes, took a few slow and deep breaths, and after a moment, once he felt a bit better, he opened his eyes again. He looked at Ricco and asked, "Did all go as it should?"

"I guess so Master. We will know in a few moments after I ask you several questions," the robot replied and then he began to test the knowledge implanted into his Masters brain.

"What is your name, Master, and when where you born?"

"Alexander 'Xander' Lavelle Harris and I was born on January 29th, 1985," Xander replied.

"Correct Master. What are the names of your parents and best friend?"

Xander quickly answered, "My parents are Jessica and Anthony 'Tony' Harris and I actually have two best friends, Willow and Jesse."

Ricco continued with several questions to test everything his Master needed to know about the young boy he planned to replace and then finished with the question, "Where did you learn sword fighting and several Martial Arts? And why didn't your best friends know anything about it?"

"I learned those from my Sensei Ricconas Lee and I didn't tell anyone because if Tony had learned about it, he probably would've stolen the money I needed for the lessons to buy himself more booze." Xander blinked at his robotic friend, grinned and said, "You sneaky little bolt bucket, included yourself on this trip, did you?"

"Of course Master. After all, someone has to keep an eye on you in case you need direct help and so Thora and I created the history for your Sensei Lee. The only thing left to do to assume this identity is to slip into the mask of an Asian human," Ricco replied.

Xander only shook his head in amusement and then stood up from the chair he was sitting on. "Ok, let's finish the preparations and then we fly to Sunnydale."

-TG-

A few hours later Xander stood in the hangar and had just finished all preflight checks on the ship they would use to fly to Sunnydale. While he waited for Ricco to appear, he enjoyed the view the underwater world presented to him. He quickly sank deep into the beauty of this and nearly jumped out of his own skin when Ricco suddenly stood behind him and yelled, "Boooo!"

Without thinking Xander's reflexes took over and just a few moments later Ricco lay on the floor with a knee at his throat. "Master!"

Xander grinned and shook his head at the now around thirty Asian looking Ricco beneath him. "Ricco, when will you ever learn not to surprise me?"

"As soon as you learn not to forget the world around you so deeply that every amateur with a blade can take your head from your shoulders, Master. As I always like to tell you Master, you need to practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Ricco answered his master.

Xander only grinned and helped Ricco up. "I will try to heed this advice my friend. Now let's go."

With those words Xander entered the ship and Ricco quickly followed him. Xander sat down on the pilot chair and then said, "Thora, would you be so kind to open the hangar doors for us?"

"Of course Master," the AI replied and in front of the shuttle a huge door sunk into the floor and the water behind it was held back only by a small force field.

"Thank you Thora. We will see you soon," Xander said as he directed the ship, with the controls he let appear, through the door into the ocean. Sure, he could have used mental commands to guide the ship, but he never liked flying that way. He enjoyed the hands on approach much more.

After the hangar door closed behind them, Xander directed the ship for several miles underwater before he pulled it up and out of the ocean. As soon as they cleared the water Ricco activated the cloak and the ship disappeared. Xander nodded thankfully at the robot and then flew in the direction of the American coast.

-TG-

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs

Sam looked at her screen in disbelief and then let the video play again and then again. She shook her head and then quickly called Jack over her mobile.

After several rings she heard a sleepy grumbled, "CARTER! Do you have any idea how late it is?"

Sam looked at the display of the laptop and noted the time. She gulped a bit and then replied sheepishly. "Yes, Sir. It's time for you to come to base immediately. It's important."

"You're still at the base Sam? Working late again? What is it? Have the Go'auld invaded?" Jack asked in jest.

"Maybe," Sam replied. "You know how we placed several new satellites into orbit yesterday? I was just uploading an update for their system software and after doing that I received an interesting video from one of them. Please come to base immediately. I'll call the others."

"I'll be there in 15 minutes Carter," Jack said and then he had hung up.

Sam grinned. Somehow it was always fun to wake Jack up in the middle of the night. She quickly called Teal'c and Daniel, who both were currently on the base, and then she called General Hammond as well.

After she finished the calls she picked up her laptop and hurried to the briefing room. She smiled at Daniel, who was already there, and was currently starting up the coffee machine. "Hello Daniel. Thank you for the coffee, I think we will need it," she greeted her team mate with a smile.

"No problem Sam, I think we all need it to keep our eyes open," Daniel replied.

Sam nodded at Daniel again and smiled. Like her, Daniel enjoyed to work quite late as well and so it was no wonder that both shared their addiction to the Goddess called Caffeine.

While they waited for the machine to finish Teal'c entered the room. He looked around and saw his two friends. "MajorCarter, DanielJackson. It is good to see you," he said in greeting with a nod and then sat down in his usual chair.

Daniel and Sam nodded back in greeting, but before they could say anything they were distracted by the machine, which was just finished with brewing their coffee. They quickly got a cup and then sat down in their chairs.

After Daniel had taken his first sip he asked, "So Sam, why are we here? I guess Jack wasn't too happy about your call."

"Let's wait for Jack and the General. They should be here soon and that way I only need to tell it once," Sam replied.

Daniel nodded in acceptance and so they waited for the others.

Luckily they didn't have to wait for long. Sam and Danny had just finished the first cups of coffee as Jack and General Hammond entered the briefing room. Jack looked at his teammates and decided to let the General handle everything. Instead, he got himself and the General cups of coffee as well.

Hammond nodded in thanks and then looked at his Major. "So Major Carter, what was so important that you had to get us all here in the middle of the night?"

"If you allow Sir, I would like to show you a small video our new satellites took after I finished uploading the update and restarted the grid," Sam said to her commanding officer.

Hammond just nodded and Sam pressed a button on her notebook. The video played on the big screen in the briefing room.

They all watched the video and then all looked at Sam. "Major, could you show it again? I'm not sure if I really saw that," the General said.

"Of course, sir," she answered and played the video again.

They all watched the short video again and saw how a small ship came out of the Atlantic Ocean and was visible only for a second or maybe two before turning invisible.

Now Jack looked up and said, "Damn, that looked like one of those Shuttle Jumpers our people found in Atlantis. How did it come here and what was doing under the Atlantic Ocean? Another lost city?"

"Those are really good questions Colonel, and I really would like an answer to them," General Hammond said.

"What are we going to do, Sir?" Major Carter asked.

"I will speak with the President in the morning to see if we can't deploy a maneuver in that area. I don't really believe it, but maybe we'll get lucky and find something. You Major, should fly to Area 51 where our people are studying one of those Jumpers. We need a way to locate them even when they're cloaked. Colonel, you and the rest of SG1, as well as SG12 + 14, are on High Alert for now. Be prepared to be deployed at once if we find a clue about the whereabouts of that ship."

"Yes, Sir," both Colonel O'Neil and Major Carter said.

Jack, Daniel and Teal'c left the room to find an early breakfast and then to throw those sleepyheads from SG12 + 14 out of their beds.

Major Carter quickly took the elevator upstairs and hurried to the airfield in a jeep. There she took one of the F18's, which always stood on standby if needed, and flew to Nevada.

-TG-

A short flight later, during which Alex was quizzed a bit more on Xander's life by Ricco, they reached the small town of Sunnydale. As soon as they came closer to the town Alex could feel the energy the Hellmouth was giving off and he swallowed a bit. "Damn, this thing is really quite active, isn't it?"

Ricco just nodded and carefully directed Alex to the warehouse Thora had acquired for them. As they reached it, he pressed the small GDO he had constructed and part of the roof opened silently so that Alex could land the shuttle quietly.

As soon as they left the shuttle, a crude image of the AI appeared.

Surprised, Alex said, "Thora? Good to see you, but let me say, you don't look too good."

Thora's face flinched a bit about that comment and said, "Sorry Master, but the computer power here isn't quite up to what we are used to. Ricco will have to update the systems in the next days, but that's not too important. I hope you had a good flight, Master?"

"Yes, we had a good flight, but how many times must I tell you to call me Alex and not Master?"

Thora just smiled and chose not to answer that question. Instead, she said, "Good. Now that you are here, we have to plan how you can take over the role of Alexander Harris."

They discussed several options for a while until Thora suddenly said, "Oh my…I think we can scrap all that."

Ricco and Alex looked at Thora and waited for her to continue.

"Tony Harris was just arrested for nearly killing his wife and beating Xander. Both are currently on their way to the nearby hospital."

-TG-

Somewhere else

"Damn it, all our plans for the slayer are in danger," the voice of an athletic young man with long dark hair cursed.

A young woman, who wasn't far from him, looked at him, a bit bored, "Why should they be in danger Miras? All is planned perfectly and nothing can go wrong."

The young man, who had just been identified as Miras, looked up at his beautiful companion and said, "Yes, our plans would have been fine, but we didn't plan for the appearance of the guardian, now did we?"

"No, we didn't and why should we? He's dead," the young woman said.

"Looks pretty lively to me," Miras said.

End Note: I know Xander's birth-date doesn't match with canon, but i had to tweak the dates a bit.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Thank you again to Inachis for fixing this chapter up.

Chapter 3

Alex looked at the hologram of the AI for a moment and you could see the surprise on his face. "Hmmm, that could actually help us a lot in taking over Xander's role. Do you have any more information about their conditions, Thora?"

"Not yet. They are still enroute to the hospital and so there isn't entered anything in the hospital systems yet," Thora replied.

"Could we use the shuttle's transporters to transport them here to the sickbay?" Alex wanted to know.

"Yes, the shuttle has enough power for that, but you must be quite near them to transport them out," Thora replied.

Alex nodded and while standing up, he said to Ricco, "Ricco, you stay here so that you can check them over as soon as I transport them here."

Ricco just nodded and went to prepare the small medical station that was installed into the warehouse. While Ricco did that Alex hurried to the shuttle and a moment later the roof opened again and the cloaked shuttle left the warehouse and flew to search for the ambulance.

-TG-

Meanwhile inside the ambulance

Marc, the older of the two paramedics, looked at his colleague and friend Steve and cursed, "Damn, the boy just flatlined. Give me the defibrillator!"

Steve quickly gave Marc the defibrillator and Marc quickly tried to bring back the young man with them. After a few tries Marc sadly shook his head, but before he could say anything the body of the young man and his mother disappeared in a slow glowing light.

Marc and Steve looked at the two empty stretchers, totally baffled. After a long minute Steve shook his head and said, "Damn…I really hate this town. If we write that in our report the boss will accuse us of having watched too much Star Trek again."

Marc nodded. "We'll have to get a bit creative about that report."

-TG-

Inside the shuttle a few moments before

Alex had flown over Sunnydale for a few moments before he spotted the ambulance. He placed the shuttle over it and then opened a channel. "Thora? I'm in position. Are you ready to transport them out?"

It took a few moments before Thora answered. "Yes Alex, I have got them both and am ready to go on your order."

Alex nodded to himself and then replied, "Ok, get them out there and let Ricco check them out."

After Alex saw that the transporter of his shuttle had deactivated again, he turned around and flew back into the direction of the warehouse. "Status Thora?"

It took a few moments again until Thora gave her reply. "We got them Alex and Ricco is checking them over."

"Ok, thank you Thora. I'll be back in 2 minutes," Alex said.

He flew the shuttle for a few moments and then activated the GDO to open the roof again. 'Hmm maybe we should call it RDO instead?' Alex wondered while he landed the shuttle.

He quickly powered the shuttle down and then went over to the medical station to see what Ricco could tell him about the patients. As he reached Ricco he looked in surprise at his helper and then at the empty beds. "Ricco? Where are the patients?"

Ricco looked at him and replied, "Master… I just meant to ask if you failed to get them."

Alex shook his head and replied, "No, we got them and Thora told me you were checking them over to see what we can do for them."

Ricco looked at Alex in surprise. "They never appeared here master."

Both looked in surprise at each other for a moment and then quickly hurried over to the mainframe and the com-station.

"Thora?"

"Yes Alex," the hologram answered as it appeared before them, flickering.

"Where are Xander Harris and his mother?" Alex asked.

"Xander Harris and his mother?" the hologram replied with a confused gaze on her pretty face.

"Yes Thora, the two we just wanted to transport here to our warehouse in Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale, Master?" Thora looked even more confused than before and her hologram started to flicker again for a few moments. "Master, I'm confused. Why are you in Sunnydale? My data says you should still be asleep here in our base."

Alex looked at Ricco worriedly and asked, "Ricco? What is happening here?"

Before Ricco could answer, the hologram of Thora flickered once more and then disappeared.

Alex and Ricco looked at each other in surprise and then Ricco replied, "I have no clue Master, but we should check the buffers of the transporter first to see if they are still in there and if not, what information the shuttle computer has saved."

Alex nodded and both quickly went to the shuttle. While Ricco checked the buffers of the transporter Alex sad down in the pilot chair and started to check the data saved by the computer.

It took Ricco only a few moments to check the buffers and to see that they were empty. The status of the transporter only said 'Transport successful'.

Ricco quickly went over to Alex and told him what he had found. "Yes, the computer says the same. The targets were transported correctly out of the ambulance and then were directly routed to the coordinates Thora had given."

Ricco looked at the coordinates and before Alex could check them he said, "That's the location of our base, Master."

Alex looked at his robotic companion and shook his head. "I think you should take the shuttle and fly back to our base and check out what's wrong with Thora and how our guests are doing. In the meantime I will continue with our plans here."

"As you wish, Master," Ricco replied and then took over the pilot chair which Alex had just vacated.

"I will contact you as soon as I have more information about the situation," Ricco continued.

Alex nodded thankfully and then left the shuttle. After Ricco had flown the ship out of the building he went over to the house of the Harris family and quickly finished the last preparations to take over as Xander Harris in the morning.

-TG-

Area 51, somewhere in the Nevada desert

Sam had reached the research and storage facility known as 'Area 51' several hours before and after taking a short nap she now sat in one of the conference rooms in deep discussion with several of the scientists, who studied the 'Puddle Jumper' they had gotten from Atlantis.

Sadly they didn't have a single idea yet on how to detect one of the Jumpers while they were cloaked. Sam was frustrated and just wanted to close the conference for now when her laptop suddenly beeped.

Unnoticed by the still arguing scientists she quickly checked out the satellite footage she just had received. After she had watched it she pulled out her mobile and as she started to speak the room suddenly went quiet around her. "General Hammond? This is Major Carter. I just got some new footage from the new grid. It shows how supposedly the same shuttle appeared several miles from the last location and then dived into the ocean."

She listened for a moment and then said, "Yes, Sir. I'm sending the footage to you right now and no we are still trying to find a way for that. May I ask your permission to bring an old colleague of mine onboard? I think he could help us quite a lot with those questions."

She listened again for a while and then replied, "Exactly Sir, I had him in mind and thank you. I'll report as soon as there's something new."

-TG-

Harris household, the next morning

Alex hadn't slept well in this environment. The whole house stank of alcohol, waste and neglect. Normally he would have gone back to the warehouse after he had collected Xander's school stuff, but then while he looked through the stuff he found a huge collection of small story books, which were called comics. He found them quite amusing and so had spent a few hours reading everything he could find about 'The Punisher' and 'Wolverine' because he found himself to be quite similar to them. After reading quite a bit of those he was tired and decided to sleep here.

He quickly got up and used Xander's shower to refresh himself. He was amazed that they still used water for showers and really enjoyed it quite a bit. He even lost track of the time for a while until his com beeped. He quickly turned off the water and said, "Yes?"

"Ricco here Master. I reached the base and found out why Thora acted so strange and then disappeared," the voice of Ricco said on the other end.

"And?" Alex asked.

"It looks like we had a malfunction in one of our alarm systems and so weren't alerted about a small leak in one of the lower floors of the base. It must have taken quite a while, but finally the saltwater reached the area where Thora's core is located. As her systems shut down one after the other, her processing power was continuously reduced," Ricco explained.

"I guess you're already fixing it. What about the boy and his mother?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I had one of the fixbots repair the leak and I can't say anything about the two yet. That part of Thora's memory is corrupted and it will take me a while to fix it. Sadly I can't use transporters yet to get rid of the water and so we have to use old style pumps to pump it out. Give me a few hours to pump out the water and then to repair all damaged systems and then I can hopefully say more about the Harris'."

Alex cursed silently. Even with all their technological power Mother Nature always found a way to make things more interesting. After a few more moments he then said, "Ok Ricco, fix everything and then check all other systems as well. There might be some other surprises as well. As soon as you have something new, contact me. In the meantime I will continue as planned and head off for my first day of school."

"Ok Master, I will contact you asap," Ricco answered before signing off.

Alex sighed a bit and then he grabbed the bag with Xander's school stuff and a curious transportation device called a 'skateboard'. After he had all he needed, he left the house and headed for his first day of school.

-TG-

Somewhere else

"What do you mean, Miras?" the young raven haired woman asked. "We saw his dead body a few hundred years ago."

"Looks like we were deceived then, because a few of the wards we have placed in and around Sunnydale have registered the arrival of a presence that only can be him."

"Damn it, he will destroy everything we have planned," the young woman said and with a lot of anger in her blue eyes she started to curse in a way that would make a seasoned sailor blush like a school girl.


	4. Chapter 4

Note1: My thank you goes to Razial, who has helped out with a huge part of this chapter. Without him it would have taken even longer than it did to complete.

Note2: Thank you to Inachis for betaing this again.

Chapter 4

(Deep Sea Base, Atlantic Ocean)

Ricco continued the work to fix the leaks that had caused the AI to malfunction. He had already repaired the main leak with the help of one of the repair-bots and ensured that no more water would reach the AI core. He had decided to use some left over metal coverings to surround the core, ensuring that it would be incorporated deeply into the core structure and prevent any further leaks from penetrating it. He had wondered why he had never thought of it before, but hindsight is always so clear about things you've missed before.

Once he had finished fixing the leak, he get to work on bringing Thora back online and ensuring the leak had not damaged too many of her systems. She was one of the most advanced AI's the ancients had ever built and Alexander needed her to continue his mission.

Finally he managed to seal up the problem and make sure it would not happen again. To be doubly sure that there would be no repeat of this event, he had checked the rest of the piping system in the area and had a few of the minor robots check out the integrity of the entire outer walls, but luckily neither he nor them found any more problems. The Deep Sea Base seemed secure again. Nodding his head in satisfaction he headed back to the core and began the process of seeing to that the damage that had been caused to the AI would be repaired quickly.

-TG-

(Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs)

General George Hammond picked up the red phone that would link him directly to the President of the United States. Major Carter had reported that from her own look at the Puddle Jumper at Area 51, it looked exactly like the craft they witnessed leaving the Atlantic Ocean. Something was going on they didn't know about, something to do with the Ancients as it was the same technology.

He was going to ask for an organized search of the area and see what they could discover. Colonel O'Neil seemed to think that maybe an ancient city lay at the bottom of the Atlantic just like Atlantis had before they found it in the Pegasus Galaxy. It was a long shot as far as he was concerned. He believed that it might more likely be a base of some sort. However, what its purpose could be was beyond him. What was more surprising was the fact the base seemed to be still active and someone alive within it. As far as they knew, all Ancients had ascended to another plane of existence long ago.

Daniel Jackson was already speculating that this person had been in suspended animation and had only just awakened. Which was a plausible explanation, except for why would the Ancients leave one of their own in suspended animation when they ascended? It didn't make much sense to him, but he was determined to find out the truth.

"Yes, I need to speak to the President right away," he said as the call was answered and he waited a few seconds until the President picked up. "Yes sir, we have a situation here. Approximately four hours ago a ship resembling the Puddle Jumpers we found in Atlantis left the Atlantic Ocean and cloaked directly after it had left the water. As such, we don't know its course, but we believe there is some kind of base near the location it left the ocean," he reported.

"Suggested course of action, General?" President Hayes inquired, intrigued by this new situation.

"I suggest that we begin a search of the area under the cover of a training operation. We will need some submarines and maybe some DRV'S to search the sea bed," Hammond advised. "If there really is a base down there, we will need to secure it before anyone else does. If this gets out before we can do that, then the other governments in the know will demand access or even control of it, just like they did with the Gate, the Antarctic defence base and Atlantis itself," he continued.

"I agree. We need to move fast," Hayes agreed. "Do we have a way of tracking the ship that left the area we need to search?" he inquired.

"Not yet sir," Hammond answered with a frown. "But my people are working on it," he added. "Major Carter is examining the Puddle Jumper we have at Area 51 and I'm certain she will find a way to penetrate the cloak in time," he said confidently.

"Good to hear General. Very well I'll begin to set up the search of the location once you give me the coordinates," the President responded.

"Of course sir," Hammond said and quickly gave the coordinates. "Yes sir, I'll keep you appraised on the cloak situation," he added before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Jack O'Neil chose that moment to enter the office looking slightly bored, but then that was no surprise as he knew the Colonel liked to be in the middle of the action and at the moment there was little they could do.

"How did it go, sir?" Jack asked.

"The search is going to be set up straight away and hopefully we will find what we expect to find," Hammond answered. "Any word from Major Carter?" he inquired.

"Not yet sir, but I'm sure Carter is up to her eyeballs with going through that ship looking for the answers we need," Jack said with a smile, which was shared by Hammond. "Daniel is going through what we have on the Ancients so far. He's hoping to find a clue about what might be down there," he informed his commanding officer.

"A long shot I guess, but there is no harm in checking I suppose," Hammond concluded. "Keep me informed of what he finds Jack. We need to get a grip on this and fast, before it gets out of hand," he ordered.

"Of course sir," Jack agreed and then turned and left.

Hammond settled back into his chair and wondered just what they would find. He had long ago given up believing anything was impossible since this command had become active again. Maybe Jack was right and there was another sunken city like Atlantis down there. Of course, if that was the case, then the IOA and the rest of the governments in the know were going to be arguing who had control for a long time.

-TG-

(Deep Sea Base, Atlantic Ocean)

Ricco continued deep into the sections that had been hit by the flood, inspecting the areas for damage. He then noted that one of the areas he was heading for was the suspended animation pods and he made his way into that direction. He knew, thanks to Thora's mostly restored memory, that the transportation of Xander and his mother had been completed. They had been transported into the base, the question was just where, because that part of Thora's memory was too corrupted to repair.

Now he had a very good idea of the where. Maybe Thora had sensed the trouble and managed to direct them somewhere safe. It would make sense he thought. Entering the chamber he looked around as the lights came on at his presence. He passed the pods one at a time, before pausing at the fourth and fifth pods and smiling. Inside were Xander Harris and his mother. While Jessica Harris was clearly asleep and in cryo stasis, the pod for Xander on the other hand showed no life signs. Cursing their luck he quickly checked the controls on the pod, read all the information and then quickly hurried to the control centre to contact his Master. Alexander wouldn't like the information he had found, or the new data Thora was getting in regards of the Astra Porta.

-TG-

(Somewhere else)

Miras looked amusedly at his companion, who was still going on with her curse fest, and asked with a loud voice. "Are you done yet? We don't have time for your tantrum."

Throwing out a few more curses, this time directed at Miras, the woman took a deep breath and calmed herself again. "Ok, what can we do?" she finally asked.

"Sadly not too much. We can't interfere directly yet, but we could sent Whistler to Sunnydale so that he can gather information for us and find out if it is really him," Miras told her.

"Sounds good, but isn't he still watching over that vampire we're planning to use with the Slayer?" she asked.

"Indeed, but if he is really there, all our plans for Sunnydale are in danger," Miras replied.

"Ok, then let's call that disgusting slime bag and give him his new orders," the woman grumbled.

-TG-

(Sunnydale)

This skateboard really was a fun thing. It took him a few tries, but finally he had the hang of it and was enjoying his "ride" to the school. As he finally saw the school he wove through the crowd on the skateboard. He yelled loudly. 'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa! 'Scuse me, not sure how to stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me." Suddenly he noticed a blond who was just stepping on the stairs up to the school. He stared at her and just had enough time to think 'that can't be' right before he crashed into the stair railing. He let out a painful gasp and fell beneath it.

Still moaning in pain and a bit confused he saw a red head rushing to him, who he quickly identified as Willow thanks to the files he had read. Before she could say anything he quickly said "I'm okay. I feel good." This wasn't even a lie, because thanks to his Quickening all bruises from the crash were already healed.

She looked down at him and smiled about her clumsy friend and pulled her hair behind her ear.

As he slowly got up he said, "You're so very much the person that I wanted to see!" Amused, Willow looked at him and asked, "Oh, really?"

Alex nodded at her and they started walking towards the school. After a few moment of silence Willow finally asked, "So why?"

Still a bit confused he asked, "What why?"

Willow smiled at him. "Did you hit your head in the crash? Why did you want to see me?"

Still thinking about the blonde he just had seen and the impossibility of it all, he quickly came up with. "Yeah. You know, I kinda had a problem with the math."

"Uh, which part?" Willow asked her friend, who was acting a bit strange this morning.

"The math part. Can you help me out tonight, pleeeease, be my study buddy?

Willow grinned and mischievously asked, "Well, what's in it for me?"

Grinning at the girl he replied, "I cook."

"Okaaaay...," Willow said in a disbelieving tone and then continued." Do you have 'Theories in Trig'? If not, you should check it out."

"Check it out?" he asked, having no clue what she meant.

"From the library? Where the books live," Willow replied with a smile even as she asked herself what was wrong with her friend.

"Right, I'm there! See, I wanna change," he mumbled.

In the hall just inside the door they suddenly heard someone yell "Hey, hey!"

Alex looked up and thanks to the file again he quickly identified the young boy as Xander's friend Jesse. "Hey, Jesse, what's what?" he said.

"New Girl!" Jesse replied with a smirk.

"That's right, I saw her and...," Alex replied and thanks to having to fight a memory which wanted to come up he stopped there and then shook his head to clear it.

"I heard someone was transferring," Willow said.

"So tell," Alex said. "Tell what?" Jesse asked. "What's the sitch, what do ya know about her?" Alex said.

Jesse shrugged his shoulders and just said, "New girl!"

+TG+

(Sunnydale High school, a bit later)

Alex was deep in thought and suddenly crashed into someone which resulted in the someone dropping most of her stuff.

Alex stared at the young woman for a few moments in shock which ended in her giving him a confused look. "Something wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost," the young woman said.

Alex chuckles a bit and then replied, "Something like that. Can I help you?" The young woman smiled at him and said, "Thanks."

"I don't know you, do I?" Alex asked her while they gathered her stuff.

In reply the woman shook her head, "No, I'm Buffy. I'm new."

Alex smiled at her and said, "Nice to meet you Buffy. I'm Xander."

"Um, thanks," Buffy quickly said and then they finished gathering up everything.

"See you later then," Alex said after they were finished.

"Great. It was nice to run into you," Buffy replied with a smile and then started down the hall.

Alex looked after her for a few moments, still in disbelief a bit, and then he noticed a stake which was still on the floor.

Alex quickly picked it up and put it into his own back, hoping no one had seen it. "Figures that someone who could be her twin is the slayer."

+T+

AN: Some parts for the last bit in SD where taken out of the script "Welcome to the Hellmouth!" and then was molded by me to fit into my story.

Characters so far:

Alexander: An Ancient who is posing as Xander

Angel/Angelus: Only mentioned so far

Buffy Summers: The Slayer

Col. Jack O'Neil: Leader of SG1 and

Daniel Jackson: Member of SG1

General Hammond: Commander of SGC

Hayes: President of the USA

Jesse: Friend of Xander Harris

Jessica Harris: Currently in deep sleep in Alex's base

Major Samantha Carter: Member of SG1

Miras: One of the PTB

Ricco: Loyal robot of Alex.

Tahila: Mentioned only: Companion of Alex who was turned by Angelus and as a result freed (staked) by Alex

Teal'c: Member of SG1

Thora: AI in Alex's underground base

Tony Harris: Only mentioned of being arrested

Unnamed woman: One of the PTB

Whistler: Only mentioned so far, Balance Demon in service to PTB

Willow Rosenberg: Friend of Xander Harris

Xander Harris: Currently dead in Alex's base


End file.
